straightjacket realises that you CAN get medical care WITHOUT insurance.

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The Straight Story Donating Member (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Thu Jun-05-08 09:53 PM
Original messageWell, the squad took the wife to the ER at the heart hospital today, and we have no insurance

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Edited on Thu Jun-05-08 09:54 PM by The Straight Story
She had been having heart issues for a few days and thought it might just be her Parkinson's causing it. I talked to our dispatch supervisor and she told me she would send out a team of paramedics to evaluate her on a non-emergency run and advise her.

The ambulance got here and advised her to seek medical attention - but she was worried about having no insurance. KMC (the county hospital) sees patients without insurance and is always insanely busy. But the paramedics knew a lot more than we did - turns out all the hospitals here do, private or not, and they sign you up for medical right there without all the extra paperwork you normally need.

So we went to the heart hospital and we were treated just as well as people with insurance. They ran as many tests as needed (blood work, xrays, ultra sound) and would have admitted her if need be.

Turns out her heart was/is enlarged due to fluid being around it, high white blood cell count, and her pancreas is having problems. They gave her some powerful anti-biotics, a shot of something for inflammation and nitro.

Poor girl just can't win, we had to laugh about it really. Arachnoid cyst on the brain, Parkinson's, Asthma, Pneumonia off and on, now all this shit and she is only 37.

Point to me today is - it was nice to see medical people doing their job for her and not treating her like a leper for not having insurance. They didn't blink or balk at it, and they are working what channels they have to get paid.

All possible because some people in power put lives ahead of dollars. And soon we will have more of them in power.

It was scary for a while there today, but the one thing that I wasn't sweating right then was about money. I would rather have a hospital bill to pay than a funeral bill.

But 41 million people have no access to healthcare. I know because Obama tells me so.

Another lie. It is not even accurate to say that 41 million americans don't have insurance.

A closer look at that report reveals that 45% of the "uninsured" are only temporarily so - they quit one job and the benefits of the new job have not yet begun. Subtracting these people and the number of uninsured is roughly 21 million. The Census data also include roughly 10 million people who are “not a citizen.” Subtracting the 10 million non-Americans, the number of uninsured Americans falls to roughly 11 million. A huge number of the remaining actually qualify for govt. health benefits, but simply have not applied. Others are earning good incomes but choose not to purchase insurance.